Brush for cleaning corn and the like

ABSTRACT

Especially useful for cleaning corn silk from ears of fresh corn the present brush may be made from woven wire screen by removing some of the warp or weft wires leaving part of the screen intact to be wrapped around a wooden handle and held in place by the length of wire which was removed from the warp or weft and the remaining wires become brush bristles arranged in a somewhat circular pattern.

United States Patent [191 Keating BRUSH FOR CLEANING CORN AND THE LIKE [76] Inventor: Bonnie M. Keating, 4001 Lakemont Dr., Apt. 7-A, College Park, Ga. 30337 22 Filed: May2l, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 145,776

[52] U.S. Cl 15/159 R, 15/200, 15/225, 300/21 [51] Int. Cl A46b 3/16 [58] Field of Search 15/159 R, 159 14,160,189, 15/197, 198, 200, 226, 225, 209; 300/21 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,433,695 12/1947 Hoffman 15/236 R X 624,464 5/1899 Erickson 15/159 R 1,600,746 9/1926 Wocasek 15/225 [111 3,805,313 [451 Apr. 23, 1974 3,237,234 3/1966 Tilgner 15/225 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 318,707 10/1902 France 15/159 R OTHER PUBLICATIONS The American Builder, Jan. 1935 issue.

Primary Examiner-Peter Feldman Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Patricl F. Henry [57] ABSTRACT Especially useful for cleaning corn silk from ears of fresh com the present brush may be made from woven wire screen by removing some of the warp or weft wires leaving part of the screen intact to be wrapped around a wooden handle and held in place by the length of wire which was removed from the warp or weft and the remaining wires become brush bristles arranged in a somewhat circular pattern.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures BRUSH FOR CLEANING CORN AND THE LIKE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Brushes and especially those with bristles arranged somewhat concentrically on a handle. Special brushes and brushes for cleaning items such as corn.

2. Description of the Prior Art The known prior art includes U.S. Pats. Nos. 179,438; 541,537; 1,713,027; 2,202,695 and 3,237,234. None of the foregoing brushes provides a concentric arrangement of filaments made from metal or the like which is suitable for brushing on the tender kernels of fresh corn to remove the corn silk which is embedded in the crevices between the kernels and is difficult to remove since the kernels are easily damaged. Some brushes are too soft and will not get the tiny silk hairs from the crevices whereas other brushes are too sharp and too stiff and damage the kernels. It is necessary to remove the corn silk from the corn preparatory to freezing or cooking so as to make the end product more palatable with the absence of the tiny corn silk filaments which catch in the teeth; Mos wire brushes of the type disclosed in the foregoing prior art as well as commercial prior art are too stiff and inflexible to properly do the job. Furthermore, it is expensive to construct a brush from metal filaments held in place.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Metal brush filaments arranged concentrically on a brush handle and each having a small depression at spaced locations thereon, similar to that obtained by stripping wire screen, are just the right flexibility and consistency for cleaning tiny corn silk hairs from a fresh ear of corn. The problem of constructing such a brush and holding the filaments in place on a wooden or plastic handle is solved by using woven insect screen which has been stripped back to remove part of the warp or weft wire which is stripped down in a continuous length. Optionally, after the remaining screen is wrapped around the end of the handle this length of wire is used to wrap around the bundle to hold it in place on the handle. The remaining wire filaments extending from the handle are arranged concentrically about the center core of the handle and provide the needed brush implements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present brush being used to brush the corn silk hairs from an ear of corn.

FIG. 2 is an end view looking into the ends of the brush bristles of the brush in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan assembly view showing the wrapping of the stripped screen wire about the handle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The completed and assembled brush is referred to herein generally by reference numeral which is illustrated in FIG. 1 having a handle 12 held in one hand 14 of the user who is holding in the other hand 16 a fresh ear of com 18 having fragile kernels 20 thereon in which are embedded and tangled the small hairs and filaments commonly known as corn silk 22 which remains after removing the shucks from the ear 18. The

bundle of brush bristles or brush brushing members 24 are held in place on the handle 12 by means of a wrapped bundle 26.

Referring to FIG. 3, it is noted that the handle 12 which may be constructed from wood, plastic or any other suitable and similar material is provided with a hole 30 for a cord or any other useful purpose. The other end of the handle at 32 is round and has the bristles 24 mounted thereon. Bristles 24 may be formed in the present embodiment by means of stripping a small section of flexible wire insect screen designated generally by reference numeral 34 which has warp wires 36 corresponding to the bristles 24 and weft, woof or transverse wires 38 which are usually loopedabout a marginal or selvage edge 40, although there are various types of edge construction in the aluminum and plastic insect screen field and this per se constitutes no part of the invention nor is it a limitation thereon. By removing the end of the weft or woof wire 40 from the selvage edge at one corner 44 it is possible to strip back screen 34 by unravelling wire 40 ending with a continuous length shown in FIG. 3. Then with the screen wire section 34 lying on the top ofa table and the end 32 of the handle positioned over the complete, remaining portion of the screen 34 as shown in FIG. 3 it is possible to roll the handle with the wire forming complete revolutions and placing the bristles 24 in the somewhat concentric convoluted relationship shown in FIG. 2. Then after the bundle of bristles 24 has been completely wrapped around the handle in the manner shown in FIG. 1 the length of weft or woof wire 40 may be wrapped around the top of the bundle 24 in the manner shown in FIG. 1 making a bundle 26 to hold bundle 24 tightly in place. Some screens do not have looped selvages and therefore the wire 40 would not be attached. It could still be used.

It will be obvious that the wire 40 could be replaced by some other retaining means such as a metal collar or a plastic band or a separate wire not obtained by stripping the insect screen section 36.

The crinkles in the bristles 24 are inherent in stripped screen and result from weaving to cause indentations. These make good resilient bristles but the crinkles are not necessary.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of this invention together with a particular purpose and use thereof this is by way of illustration only and it is obvious that the brush could be used for brushing some other item instead of corn without departing from the scope of the invention and furthermore there are various alterations, changes, additions, substitutions, combinations, integrations, separations, amendments, omissions, and other departures which may be made in the particular embodiment shown and described without departing from the scope of my invention as defined by proper interpretation of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a brush which may be used for cleaning tiny corn silk hairs and filaments from the crevices between the kernels of a fresh ear of corn:

a. a handle,

b. a bundle of woven resilient filaments comprising a woven screen wrapped on itself and attached to and about one end of said handle, there being nonwoven bristles comprising a plurality of said filaments arranged from the outside cut edge of the c. a continuous securing filament wrapped around said screen strip to secure same to the handle, said filament being a continuation and extension of the woven filaments in the screen elongated after removal from between the brush filaments and wrapped around the bundle to secure same in place,

d. each of said filaments having a plurality of small indentations and depressions at spaced intervals 

1. In a brush which may be used for cleaning tiny corn silk hairs and filaments from the crevices between the kernels of a fresh ear of corn: a. a handle, b. a bundle of woven resilient filaments comprising a woven screen wrapped on itself and attached to and about one end of said handle, there being non-woven bristles comprising a plurality of said filaments arranged from the outside cut edge of the screen towards the inside of said bundle on said handle, said bundle comprising the screen wrapped upon itself around the end of the handle into a convolutely wound screen strip, said screen being constructed from longitudinal and transverse filaments assembled in spaced relationship as by weaving same in the manner found in insect wire screen and said brush filaments being continuations of the longitudinal filaments, said brush filaments being convolutely wound with the screen whereby there are convolutely wound brush filaments extending from the handle, c. a continuous securing filament wrapped around said screen strip to secure same to the handle, said filament being a continuation and extension of the woven filaments in the screen elongated after removal from between the brush filaments and wrapped around the bundle to secure same in place, d. each of said filaments having a plurality of small indentations and depressions at spaced intervals thereon. 